In the words of original source Katu.com: "Sakura-Con is an annual anime convention held in Seattle, WA. The convention runs from April 18th-20th and hosts over 50,000 people over the three day convention."

Coming out of Day 2 of the convention event -- thanks to the submission of MKOmmunity User -- we observe and illuminate enthusiastic fans who've cosplayed it up as Mortal Kombat's original trio of palette swapped ninja: Sub-Zero, Scorpion & Reptile!



One of these things is not like the others. Isolating this difference is a simple assessment of anatomy. Did you get a nice mental image going? Biology. Anatomy. I'll let you build on it before we acknowledge, of course, that one of these characters is the disguised, cold-blooded bodyguard beast Reptile -- a non-human being from a dead realm. Also, only one of them is male.

Some of you may feel this gender-bending reimagining of characters challenges the accuracy of their costumes. Perhaps you would deduct 2-3 points for these inaccuracies, jeopardizing the likelihood of the collective winning third prize in the cosplay parade -- a petty act, given the almost certainly acceptable prize attached. I challenge this assessment and the adequacy of its scope. Mortal Kombat is owned by Warner Brothers, now. If a childhood of Bugs Bunny cartoons has taught me nothing, it's that you better damn well believe Scorpion will use the powers afforded to him as a ninja spectre from hell to disguise himself as a foxy lady. After all, it can surely be no coincidence the only male in the group appears as an authentic, frost breathing Sub-Zero. Clearly extensive thought has gone into the means by which this classic rivalry -- kiboshed by familial legacy and an exchange of the mantle -- can be rekindled. Successful film producer Larry Kassanoff believed in injecting drama into the Mortal Kombat tournament through romance. Who are you to disagree? How does any of this account for a female Reptile? How droll. How cynical. Allow me to direct you to a little thing called Parthenogenesis and to scoff at your primitive, simple-minded definitions of "gender". You make me sick.

Congratulations to the cosplayers who attended Sakura-Con. You can find more cosplay images in the Katu.com gallery! Register to find and share your own Mortal Kosplay in the Fan Submission forum! Got a story you think we might be interested in? Submit a lead!